Tag: kidsyoga

So I am currently doing an instagram yoga challenge with my kids! It is so much fun to do the different poses with them. I started thinking, I should write about how to do yoga with your kids! Simple, easy ways to bring yoga into your lives that can be as good for you as it is for them:)

Think about this…

As adults, people come to yoga for many reasons. A big one is to get healthy. What does being healthy mean? For some it might be losing weight. It might be finding a way to do exercise with a body that has limitations or health conditions that make many other activities uncomfortable. Once we start doing yoga and noticing the physical benefits, suddenly we begin to notice some unexpected bonuses. The deep breathing and calmness that comes from connecting to our bodies illuminates a new way to find stress relief and some head space. As we do yoga more and more, it shows us that by simply connecting with the body, we can become more aware of the state of our physical, emotional, mental and even spiritual well-being.

The physiological benefits of deep breathing alone have been proven scientifically. Yoga brings focus, stress relief, physical activity and helps us to connect with our bodies. What an amazing supply of tools we can share with our children!

There are some easy ways to start teaching children how to do yoga. Loose fitting or active wear clothing are best. You don’t even need a mat, the floor is just fine to do these fun postures. Bare feet is best to help feel into them and so it’s not too slippery;) There are 3 breathing exercises and 8 poses included here. As your child builds focus and concentration, you can begin with a few and work up to doing all of them. Do what works for your kids and go from there. Let’s start with some breathing!

Toy Ride Breath Exercise

Have your child bring their favourite stuffed toy and lay down on his back with the toy on his tummy. Tell him to take deep breaths slowly in through the nose and out through the nose. Kids naturally use their bellies to breath and they can watch their stuffed toy go for a ride on their tummy, up and down. If you get him to take 10 deep breaths, your job is done. If you do this with your child regularly, he will think of it as a fun activity and his nervous system will be soothed at the same time.

Bee Breath

Another fun way to get kids to breath is to practice the bee breath. Get her to sit with her legs crossed, nice and tall and take a deep breath in and then hum like a bee until the breath is all exhaled. This calming breath can help release strong emotions like anger, feelings of anxiety and stress. Try for 5 rounds, but I bet she’ll do more. The vibration of the humming on the head feels good and is a great way to stimulate focus and concentration.

Lion’s Breath

The lion’s breath is done by taking a deep breath in through the nose and then as you exhale, you let your tongue stick out and say “hhhaaaa!”. It feels silly and looks silly so it’s a winner! This breath is just another way to have kids focus on breathing deeply while having fun. My kids laugh every time! Do as many times as you wish!

Yoga Poses

Kids enjoy doing yoga poses, my 4 year old daughter takes her mat out all by herself to show me her downward dog, triangle and warrior 2 on the regular! Downward dog comes easily and kids like it. I get her to take 5 deep breaths in any pose she does. Triangle is a good one. The boat pose is fun because kids are literally trying to look like a boat when they do it, LoL. So I have a little list of poses and pictures to demonstrate them. Encourage your child to breathe deeply for 5 breaths in each pose. It isn’t important to try and find the exact expression of the poses, rather finding the general shape is good for kids, especially when they are just starting out. I have included some general points on form for reference. Do them with your kids and before long they will start wanting to do them on their own!

The Downward Dog

This pose is basically an inverted V. This pose strengthens the hands, arms, shoulders, calf muscles, back and core. The upper body is upside down and so it is calming to the nervous system too. Palms flat, press into entire hand. Relax the neck.

The Triangle Pose

This pose provides stretch and strength to the body. Another great benefit is that it activates the abdominal organs. Try for feet to be wider than hip width, front foot turned to the short end of the mat and back foot with toes facing the long side of the mat. Tip over at the hips like a tea kettle, with the lower arm resting along the front leg or extended down and the top arm up to the sky. Who doesn’t think it’s fun to be a triangle?

The Cobra Pose

This pose is wonderful for opening the heart and lungs. It strengthens the arms and shoulders. It gives a stretch to the abdominals, chest and shoulders too. Laying on the tummy, bring the hands next to the ribcage. Press the tops of the feet into the floor, press into the hands and slowly raise the chest up. Go up as much as is comfortable. Breath and enjoy!

The Warrior 2 Pose

It gives strength to the legs and arms. It gives confidence and focus to the mind. Kids feel powerful and strong! Feet apart further with the front foot facing the short side of the mat and the back foot facing the long side. When bending the front leg, the knee should be above the angle for stability. Arms are parallel to he floor, extend through the fingers. Feel the strength and power of this awesome pose!

The Butterfly Pose

This one helps to open the hips and thighs. It also reduces fatigue and releases tension. It is super fun to do too. My little yogi likes to gently bounce her knees like little butterfly wings when she sits in this one too. Sit tall, bend the knees to bring the soles of the feet together. If the knees are up higher, it’s okay:)

The Tree Pose

Great for balance and grounding! Start with the toes of the bent leg on the floor to gain balance and as concentration and focus grow, move the foot up the leg. Make sure to let the knee be free and rest the foot above or below as you get more balanced with this one. Having the arms out helps with developing balance, hands could be in prayer or reaching up like branches of a tree. Try closing your eyes once you get super grounded in this pose. Just a fun thing to try! Or keep your eyes open and find a to gaze at, helps you balance.

Bridge Pose

So fun to lift the hips and again open the heart! Keep feet hip distance and flat on the floor. Grabbing the ankles helps to be sure the feet are the right distance from your body. Gives tons of strength to the legs, helps grounding. It helps with stress and improves blood circulation. Try to keep the legs hip width apart as you lift your hips.

Happy Baby Pose

This one releases the low back, excellent to do after bridge pose. It stretches and soothes the spine while calming the nervous system. The legs are bent, knees point towards the floor, feet flexed and you can grab the inside or outside of the feet. You can try rolling side to side in this one for a little massage on your lower back too!

When you are all done, try laying down softly on the floor legs and arms softly next to you. This is relaxation. Close your eyes and imagine birds flying over your head and a rainbow shining over the sky above you. See how long your child will stay here, maybe 15 seconds or 5 minutes!

These breathing techniques and poses are a fantastic way to introduce yoga to your kids. There is a variety of poses meant to help kids focus, have fun, get strong, feel good about themselves and explore their bodies in a healthy way. Hope you have as much fun doing these at home as we do! It’s a fabulous way to have fun together!!!

It stands to reason that if yoga is an integral part of your daily life, it will inevitably infuse itself into the lives of your children. Sort of like how every word that comes out of your mouth, will eventually come out of theirs… The fact is, children are learning about the world and everything we say and do will influence how they communicate with the world in some way. That sounds a little frightening, because I mean, who is a perfect role model for their child every second of the day? Luckily, I have this yoga thing that will help to balance things out and offer a positive example for my little people to learn from.

The usefulness of breathing and moving the body, I feel can only be beneficial to the physical and psychological well being of my little humans who possess sponge-like minds and an uninhibited sense of freedom in movement. From the time my little girl was able to see, she has most definitely witnessed me practicing yoga. She has heard me chant and now does it too. I have taught her different breathing techniques which, even though they are still more just play, will help her to deal with the stress and anxiety that she may be confronted with in her future.

When I stand at the top of my mat and begin my practice with the opening chant, my little girl will OM with me and then hum along for the rest of it. My little guy even gets in on the humming part, lol. She will even start doing some sun salutations with me, her little pink mat next to mine. After a few minutes, she finds something else to do, but I think it’s a good start for a 4 year old. She can hear me breathing deeply, sometimes I repeat my mantra for difficult poses out loud. Mine is actually a yoga sutra. She can hear me repeating “Sthira sukham asanam”. This sutra basically translates to mean grounded or steadiness and gentle ease or effortless effort. For her to hear the Sanskrit and see how I am using this may not make any sense to her in a conscious way, but the sort of energy created may illuminate a palpable strength of effort and determination. Both of these things, I hope she will find to be within her own repertoire of assets as she grows.

For children of this age group, my daughter being 4 and my son almost 2, it is sometimes difficult for them to articulate their feelings. It is also beyond the ability of a 2 year old to comprehend logic and reason and so tantrums happen as an emotional outburst on the regular. Teaching them both to breathe deeply and slowly is physiologically calming, and it takes their minds off of what has been upsetting them too. Bhramari is a breathing technique used to calm the mind and soothe the brain. It is easy and fun for kids because they get to make the sound of a bee! We take a deep breath and then hum as we exhale slowly. Since it is like a game, they don’t even know how it is helping to diffuse their anger or frustration. For my daughter, we can talk about whatever problem that was making her feel upset far more easily afterwards. For my son, we only do this for fun until he gets a bit older and will do it when I tell him it will help.

I think my 4 year old will be ready to try learning to do some simple chants soon. I have learned several and I think it will be a great way to build concentration and focus as well as calm and produce positive energy. Who doesn’t want that? So you see, yoga really is for human beings of any age. I even remember playing yoga chants and songs as relaxation when my daughter was a baby. Yoga lullabies! So my message for this writing is really to find ways to share your beautiful yoga practices with your children and really anyone who will let you. There is really nothing like sharing something you revere, respect, enjoy, love and feel grateful to have:)